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20% of Hastings Students Get A's, 80% "Unhappy With Grading System"

By Patrick

A commentator below argues bar stats suggest Boalties are soft. Yet meanwhile, a recent survey suggests our friends across the bay wish they could be more like us!*

Okay, that was a bit overstated.

But the survey does reveal that Hastings students wish their grading system was more like ours: about 80% of UC Hastings believe their 20/60/20 grading curve puts them at a disadvantage on the job market against Boalt and UCLA grads.

According to the Hastings 3L who authored the survey, "Those are the schools that our students see themselves as competing with, and they want to appear on paper as close to these students as possible." Orrick's West Coast hiring partner disagrees: " . . . before going on campus to interview, we remind the on-campus interviewers what the specific grading system at that school is so we're comparing apples and apples," he said. "We don't use the Stanford grading criteria to evaluate a Hastings student or vice versa," he added."

It was a second argument for a grading system change that struck me. Buried halfway down the page, the Academic Dean at Hastings remarks: "The curve should be relaxed because it's the right thing to do and because the students become stressed about grades."

Is it the "right thing to do"? And will it relax students about their grades? Are there any Hastings transfer students here who are in a position to answer that question?

*For the record -- I'll bet at least 80% of Boalties have at least a bit of Hastings-envy, too. I know *I* would rather live in the city . . .

Full post as published by Nuts & Boalts on February 26, 2008 (boomark / email).